3:1 At that time, 10 Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you so you will be secure. 11
A song of ascents. 13
128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, 14
each one who keeps his commands! 15
128:2 You 16 will eat what you worked so hard to grow. 17
You will be blessed and secure. 18
3:10 Tell the innocent 19 it will go well with them, 20
for they will be rewarded for what they have done. 21
1 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).
2 tn The imperative here means, literally, “regard as heavy” (כַּבֵּד, kabbed). The meaning is that great importance must be ascribed to parents by their children.
3 tn Heb “the
4 tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).
6 tn Heb “upright.”
7 tn Heb “the
8 tc Heb “in the eyes of the
9 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “be sure.”
10 tn The phrase “sometime later” does not appear in Hebrew but is supplied to mark the implicit shift in time from the events in chapter 2.
11 tn Heb “My daughter, should I not seek for you a resting place so that it may go well for you [or which will be good for you]?” The idiomatic, negated rhetorical question is equivalent to an affirmation (see 2:8-9) and has thus been translated in the affirmative (so also NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
12 sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.
13 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
14 tn Heb “every fearer of the
15 tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”
16 tn The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6.
17 tn Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.”
18 tn Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.”
19 tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”
20 tn Heb “that it is good.”
21 tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”
22 tn Heb “Whether good or whether evil we will hearken to the voice of the